Print this page*An updated chronostratigraphic framework for the Jurassic of the Arabian Platform: Towards a regional stratigraphic standard
Rasha Al Moraikhi1, Naveen Verma1, Prasanta Mishra, Alexander J.P. Houben2, Tom van Hoof2, and Roel Verreussel2
Abstract
The past few decades the focus of hydrocarbon exploration and production in the Middle East progressively has moved to deeper/older plays. In fact, the Jurassic succession of the Arabian Platform is now among the major hydrocarbon-producing intervals of the Middle East. On this platform, widespread carbonate deposition resulted in a vertical and lateral mosaic of shallow-water facies adjacent to deeper water coarser-grained deposits. An improved high-resolution sequence stratigraphic framework is crucial for building highly resolved geological models for reservoir distribution and characterization. Currently, there is a fairly good understanding of the structural features of the Jurassic in the region, primarily on the basis of sedimentology and seismic mapping (Yousif and Nouman, 1995, 1997; Haq and Al-Qahtani, 2005, Figure 1). However, in order to start understanding the genesis and sequence stratigraphic position of Jurassic plays, a firm chronostratigraphic framework is essential. Unfortunately the application of a single, routinely used biostratigraphic tool appears problematic in the generally carbonate-rich and oil-saturated depositional systems of the Jurassic of the Arabian Platform. Here we present the results of a multidisciplinary study performed with the aim of constructing a chronostratigraphic framework for the Jurassic of West Kuwait, an area that hosts an important Jurassic hydrocarbon play.
AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90188 ©GEO-2014, 11th Middle East Geosciences Conference and Exhibition, 10-12 March 2014, Manama, Bahrain